


Kougino Week

by guremahishin



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-20 11:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4786097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guremahishin/pseuds/guremahishin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taking a stab at drabbles for Kougino week!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing with fic and all I know how to do is roleplay at this point, but this has ended up being an important ship to me, so I wanted to give it a shot!!
> 
> Prompt for day 1 is "Moments"

Sometimes relationships are big moments.

Ginoza can remember his first encounter with Kougami -- Kougami coming to his rescue, despite not being asked for help. In fact, Ginoza hadn’t exactly wanted help; he hadn’t been expecting it or looking for it. More than anything, he was confused. Why would anyone bother stopping bullies? And first and foremost, that was his reaction. No thanks, no gratitude, just questions of why.

But the relief existed, and he came to realize eventually that the gratitude did too. It pushed its way through the doubt (a result of that confusion, that urge to ask why someone would bother to help him) the more he encountered Kougami. And Kougami was persistent, so the encounters weren’t infrequent.

Ginoza also remembers the first time they kissed. They got along well after enough time spent getting to know one another. They had classes together, they studied together frequently; they saw plenty of each other. And Kougami was becoming important to Ginoza. It was a little unnerving, but Kougami seemed just as happy to spend time with him, so he took strides to overcome any doubt. When Kougami closed the gap between them after being leaned close - over homework Ginoza can only remember was related to behavior analysis - it did more than a little to help.

He remembers the following conversation about their relationship -- talking about the details, what it meant to each of them, how each of them felt. Ginoza remembers the relief, thanks to Kougami once again, that there is no doubt of how much he loves and cares about Kougami just because the feelings aren’t necessarily the same kind that Kougami feels -- there’s no doubt that he wants this just as much, despite that difference. He remembers Kougami choosing to follow his career path and feeling like he truly had someone to be there for him.

He remembers crying after that.

But he also remembers crying, alone this time and for a very different reason, after Kougami’s demotion.

Sometimes a relationship is little moments too, but even those are gone after his partner becomes an enforcer.

There is no more studying or working together, side by side in comfortable silence. No more breaks between the work to cook and eat together. No more time spent reassuring one another, no more nights falling asleep together, no more watching Kougami and Dime together.

There’s only tension and denying he misses him, fighting with Kougami and fighting with himself about why it’s necessary.

If Ginoza is a little more honest with himself, there’s more. There are the moment it’s tangible that they both miss one another, but he won’t give. There are almost kisses, which hurt. There are the moments someone innocently mentions behavior analysis and he’s forced to remember that first kiss.

But these all feel negatives - like the absence of something rather than the presence of it, he thinks. They’re painful and he wishes they would stop.

Until Kougami leaves and even those moments are gone, leaving Ginoza to realize how much more he had to miss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, my headcanon is aroace Ginoza and I've seen a good few things from canon to support Kougami being gay, so I wanted to stick to both of those things as best as possible. To each their own interpretation, but to be clear, my intent was qeerplatonic feelings from Ginoza and romantic ones from Kougami, and them finding a compromise.


	2. Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the day 2 prompt, "Eras"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's enough Kougino misery, so my choice of era is while both of them are inspectors c:

Being an inspector can be a gruelling job. They know this, they’ve trained for it, but there’s nothing that can exactly prepare a person for the actual experience. Adjusting to the job has taken some time, but Kougami and Ginoza have had that, working apart from each other in different divisions.

Recently, they’ve finally been able to work together after Kougami’s reassignment to Division 1. It’s sort of what they’ve waited for since Kougami declared he was following Ginoza’s career choice, and now that it’s here...well, it’s hard work, as always, but there’s some comfort in knowing they can lean on one another more easily.

On the other hand, it can be a little distracting.

Ginoza can handle himself, of course, but he can’t entirely stop thoughts of being able to kiss Kougami at any time from popping up. He won’t do it at work, that seems like inappropriate conduct, probably, but the thought itself can be distracting. As long as Kougami isn’t thinking along the same lines, though, there’s no reason to believe he’ll have a problem.

Lunch time rolls around one day and most everyone has headed out. Ginoza, however, is finishing up a report and Kougami seems to have waited up for him. There’s nothing too strange in that since they regularly eat together and Kougami seems to have brought something for them to share today. But it really does feel like he’s lingering a bit, maybe just a little restless...

Ginoza pauses in his work enough to quirk a brow at Kougami. As if he needs a distraction.

“Something wrong?”

“Not really.” Kougami puts out his cigarette and crosses his arms. “I just think you could wait until later to finish that.”

Ginoza shrugs. “I could. It’s nearly finished, though.”

He tries to go back to typing, because that’s not a lie and if he can just focus, he can get it done in short order. But now he feels the pressure of Kougami waiting and--

Ginoza isn’t sure he’s going to wait at all when he notices his partner has stood up properly from where he was leaning. He makes an effort to type a little faster, but Kougami isn’t leaving without him; on the contrary, he’s...right next to him. Frankly, this makes it even more difficult to type. Being watched does him no favors.

He freezes instead, hands still on the keyboard, and turns to face Kougami, who has crouched to be more or less on his level.

“You’d stop me if I was overworking. Why won’t you leave it there and finish it later?”

“This is hardly overw--” Ginoza tries to argue, but can’t once Kougami is kissing him. It’s the very distraction he thinks he might have finished this just slightly sooner without. And then this wouldn’t be happening.

Given the fact that there’s no one around to make this feel entirely inappropriate, Ginoza doesn’t stop him and isn’t sure that he would rather it hadn’t happened, actually. When Kougami pulls away, though, he has to say something on principle.

All he manages is a sort of stuttered, “What are you doing?”

“Convincing you to stop for now. Is it working?”

Ginoza sighs. “Is this really appropriate?”

It isn’t a no, which Kougami recognizes along with the edge of hope to that question. He grins as he answers.

“Not entirely, I guess. But what difference does it make if no one is here?”

That line of thought is, ethically, easy to argue with, but in this case, well… Ginoza doesn’t want to argue very badly on this subject anyway and he doesn’t think he could lie convincingly about wanting to kiss Kougami. Plus it’s easy to excuse something like this, which they do off-duty anyway, especially when they are technically on a break.

Ginoza doesn’t exactly know what to say to concede that point, though, and it seems like an implied invitation to continue, so why waste time?

He presses his lips to Kougami’s, gently but firmly, lets his hands fall on Kougami’s shoulders and move into his hair. Kougami has a hand on Ginoza’s thigh, the other at his side, and the kiss easily gets deeper -- eyes are closed, mouths are open. Hands are moving, touching idly. Ginoza isn’t sure at what point they moved and ended up more or less against his desk, but that doesn’t feel like it matters.

Until there’s a cough in the doorway and he’s forced to remember how easy it is to get lost in doing that and why, maybe, that particular kind of kissing should be left for outside of work entirely. If being caught making out by your coworkers - subordinates, even - isn’t enough, Ginoza has to face the fact that one of them is also his father.

Focusing on that report again isn’t going to be an easy task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm weak and all I care about are kisses.


	3. Day 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day 3 prompt is "Relation"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing no fic for months (practically years, it feels more like) and then trying to do a pairing week feels like the writing equivalent of doing a couch to 5k and skipping all the training. So it might have been cool to do this drabble with Actual Dialog, but it did not end up that way, and I apologize for the...vagueness of it, I guess. I'm lacking confidence in my fic abilities still.

Ginoza feels insecure sometimes, and guilty for it. He’s glad to have Kougami, truly, more than he knows how to express. He believes it’s genuine when Kougami says “I love you” or anything else, when he kisses him, but there’s some part of him that won’t stop questioning what he did to deserve it.

Being picked on was no fault of his own, it’s true -- he can thank his father’s latent criminal status for that. But even still, no one else had bothered to extend a hand to him. Maybe, then, it should be a question of what it says about Kougami’s upstanding character more than a question of why on earth Ginoza would deserve that kindness. But from his own perspective, it’s hard to look at it that way completely, despite his high opinion of Kougami.

It’s hard to imagine what Kougami stood to gain from standing up for him, hard to imagine what Kougami sees in him even now. At the end of the day, Ginoza doesn’t see his partner as someone who only does things when he has something to gain, so the first thought isn’t actually valid. But sometimes he finds it hard to picture being that bold, even in the face of wanting to help someone, and that alone can be enough to make him feel like he’s not on par with Kougami. What does his partner see in him?

It’s hard to talk about. But of course, that’s a risk to his hue, so he finds the courage to do it. Besides, Ginoza trust Kougami or he wouldn’t really consider him his partner. It doesn’t mean he’s free of nerves in approaching the subject, but beneath it all, he finds he ultimately feels like things will work out; he does have that faith in Kougami.

He brings it up on the way out of work, tells Kougami his therapist recommended talking about it. That’s not a lie, but it’s an excuse; he wants to talk about it anyway.

Kougami is receptive - of course he is. Ginoza didn’t really expect differently, but that in itself almost makes him feel bad and he can’t place why. Maybe he just feels like Kougami shouldn’t have to deal with his insecurity. He hasn’t really done anything to give Ginoza any reason to feel insecure, the insecurity isn’t his fault, and yet…

He expresses that to Kougami once they’ve gotten to his apartment, how it makes him feel like maybe he’s treating everything Kougami has done for him as not good enough; like he’s ungrateful or something, even though that’s not how he feels about it -- it’s beyond what he ever expected of anyone.

Kougami listens through everything he has to say. He’s so patient and understanding that Ginoza can’t help but blurt out that he feels he doesn’t do enough for Kougami in return.

Somewhere during all of this, he started to feel on the verge of tears, honestly, but it’s when he runs out of words and Kougami starts talking, telling Ginoza what he’s meant to him, that he really does cry.

He feels bad, at least a little, making Kougami say all this, like he shouldn’t need it. But he supposes he does, and the majority of the tears are from a more positive feeling anyway. Hearing that he’s important to Kougami, just like Kougami is to him, rather than just speculating or hoping is relieving and overwhelming. There was little in his life to suggest he took any kind precedence in anyone’s life, so it’s a lot to take in and a little hard to believe, but he’s resolved to believe it anyway.

Telling Kougami what hearing this means to him - what Kougami himself means to him - turns out to be the harder part, somehow. The tears have probably done some of that for him, but all he can manage to tell his partner is how much he’d like to kiss him. It feels, for one reason or another, like that would do better than words.

He feels like he’ll remember how Kougami smiled at him then for a long time, and he knows for certain he’ll remember what it was like to kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you might have been able to tell! I ended up focusing on insecurity in the relationship. It's hard to pick one part of a relationship, but this ended up being sort of relevant and personal to me, so that sealed the decision.


	4. Day 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day 4 prompt is to choose a quote or lyric!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics I chose are from Need by The Birthday Massacre.

_There’s something I say that you don’t know_

_You’re walking away when I won’t go_

_So what can I say to make it clear?_

_You’re running away when I’m still here_

_I’d shown you the way but you won’t try_

_You’d tear us apart but this won’t die_

_This isn’t the first time you won’t stay…_

Everything is falling apart. Or that’s what it feels like to Ginoza. It’s hard not to see things that way, with the havoc Makishima is unleashing.

But it’s more than that, it’s closer and more personal than that. It isn’t just the world around him that feels beyond his control, it’s his world as well. He tries very hard to maintain an appearance of being collected and well put-together. Frankly though, he worries a lot. His self esteem isn’t actually good enough for him to be sure of himself, despite how he may act. He’s anxious. He worries. The strain he puts on himself to keep his hue clear, frankly, is just more pressure making that task harder.

And his father is there, every day - a reminder of what he least wants to become. After all, he’s there, but he’s done little to truly deserve the title of “father.”

Then, right beside his so-called father, is Kougami, his partner -- or former partner. Just another person he feels has left him behind, someone who has gone down the path he’s been avoiding all this time. And it hurts that much more because Kougami had outright chosen to be in Ginoza’s life, despite the challenge Ginoza made that. It feels like a betrayal. He knows, to some degree, that it’s not all in Kougami’s control, and that it wasn’t personal at the end of the day but frankly that logic does nothing for the sting he still feels. There are times it gets to him more than he ever wants to admit.

If all of that isn’t enough, it feels like Kougami is going against him once again and, somehow, getting further away. Ginoza should have recognized Kougami hadn’t left entirely, that he could leave more, leave again -- be gone, beyond what Ginoza considered him already.

But it becomes apparent how much he’s losing, when it’s all becoming too much for him to keep together and Kougami is the one who has to deal with it. To be fair, a lot of this distress is coming from things concerning him, but Ginoza can’t help feeling awful in the process still.

He’s thankful they’re the only ones left in the office, though maybe he would have found the resolve to keep it together had others been present. It’s hard to say. He feels like a mess as long as anyone is seeing this anyway. He can’t even decide if Kougami deserves the things he’s saying. He’s frustrated with him, certainly, but there’s a point of going overboard and he’s not sure where the line is. He’s only half aware of what he’s saying when he starts to listen to himself.

“You can’t be relied on properly! I don’t know why my f--”

He won’t say that. He can’t. For several reasons, probably.

“Your what -- father? Is that what this is about?”

Kougami is justifiably riled up as well. Ginoza doesn’t feel as justified in this and is having a hard time meeting Kougami’s gaze. Instead, he stares downward. At his hands, at his desk, at the floor. There’s nothing reassuring there, but he feels like he quite literally can’t face Kougami even though this is his own fault. He hesitates before responding.

“No.”

He would like to think that’s the truth, but in all honesty, he’s not certain. Both of them have hurt him, and now they seem closer to each other than he is with either of them. Maybe he’s bitter about that. Maybe he has been for some time. There was nothing he could do to stop either of them from becoming latent criminals, and maybe he unfairly blames himself for that. But faced with the facts, isn’t it their fault? Isn’t it…?

Kougami must see the look in his eyes, despite his bowed head, because he takes a step forward, and voice softer, says, “Gino…” like he wants to understand what’s wrong, wants to help. But that nickname always brings things back, things Ginoza can never have back no matter what Kougami does. It only adds to the bitter, hurt feeling.

“Don’t bother.”

With what, he’s not sure -- whatever Kougami thought he was going to be able to do. Ginoza can see him freeze at the corner of his field of vision. He’s not saying anything, so Ginoza continues.

“You don’t agree with the Bureau; that’s how you got demoted. You won’t listen… Why would I trust you? You’ve left me behind before, there’s nothing stopping you from doing it again!”

The words sting even for him to say, which is a fitting match for the sting he feels at his eyes. But he finally looks up at Kougami, whose expression goes from some sort of surprised hurt to passive anger.

“I never left, Gino. I’m right here.”

They’re not reassuring words, they’re biting.

“It doesn’t matter that you’re right here! Things aren’t the same -- _we_ aren’t the same! And it hurts, but you don’t seem to care. You’re more worried about doing things _your_ way.”

He really does hate almost everything he’s saying. It’s not untrue that Ginoza feels the way he says, but it sounds so harsh and hurtful and makes him feel like a fool for being the one to feel this way and say these things. Never mind admitting how badly he misses Kougami; admitting it hurt felt like baring his soul enough. It’s easy to ask why Kougami doesn’t seem to understand how badly this is affecting him until he realizes he hasn’t felt like he’s said everything.

But any other words are stuck in his throat and he’s looked away again. Kougami won’t have that, though; he’s finishing what he started by heading in Ginoza’s direction, and before he knows it, Kougami is face to face with him and there’s no looking away.

“Look around you. This whole country is in chaos, and no one is stopping it! Sybil can’t do it, so someone has to. Sometimes there are just bigger things.”

Ginoza’s eyes go wide because that’s the kind of thing he’s afraid to hear; that he takes no precedence, is not important enough, does not matter enough for people to stay. He recognizes Kougami’s point, can see that he may be right, but it still feels like a blow to his self esteem.

Kougami must see all this in his face because he continues.

“You’re still one of the most important things to me, Gino, but I have to recognize that my feelings aren’t the most important thing here and set them aside.”

This also makes sense, but doesn’t ease the pain or change his mind about how he needs to proceed. No matter how long Ginoza stares, Kougami’s gaze is fixed. He’s forced to recognize that whatever he was hoping to find there doesn’t exist.

“There’s...nothing I can say to make you see.”

It’s not a question and Ginoza’s voice is full of resignation at this point; he’s lost the energy for anger.

“I do see. It just doesn’t change what I have to do.”

There’s more softness to his voice now, and sympathy in how he looks at Ginoza. Kougami really can see the toll all of this is taking on him.

And maybe he figures he can relieve some of it, somehow, because he leans in and kisses Ginoza softly. Ginoza kisses back only until he remembers himself, remembers why he hasn’t done this in so long and why now is not the time to resume, and pulls away.

“Don’t make it harder if you’re going to leave again.”

He can’t make eye contact anymore, can’t stay here with Kougami anymore, and so he pushes his way past the person he’d still very much like to call a partner and doesn’t look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm serious, I can't write anything without kissing.


	5. Day 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day 5 prompt is "AU"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I barely made it in time, but here it is!!

In one life, there would be a system in society to minimize stress. It would vilify those it had failed, mark them as criminal. It would thus strain relationship between father and son, and eventually between colleagues -- partners, friends -- as well. All over a color, a person’s hue. For people like Nobuchika Ginoza, this system would cause more stress than it prevented.

But that is another life, another universe. In this life, Ginoza is content and working with therapy dogs (one of which is his own) at a local high school, with no worry of latent criminals and a...well, less strained relationship with his father. Additionally, he’s married quite happily to Shinya Kougami, who is a literature teacher at the same school.

Ginoza is just about finished getting ready to leave work -- making sure the room is in order, that he has everything he needs to take with him, that Dime is also ready and on his leash -- when Kougami shows up in the doorway. His classroom, Ginoza recalls as he gives his husband a puzzled look, is nowhere near here.

“How was your day?” Kougami asks, smiling and apparently unconcerned at the look Ginoza is giving him.

“Kou, what are you doing here already?” Ginoza responds with a question rather than answering the one he was asked.

Kougami seems unphased - and unabashed too, about the answer he gives with a shrug as he comes further into the room. “I let class out a couple minutes early.”

“What for? You should just wait for the bell.” Ginoza is frowning a little, but also seems curious of what answer Kougami will give.

“Relax, Gino, I don’t do this every day.”

A slightly deepened frown. “How often do you do this?”

A widened smile, as if for contrast. “Just today.”

“And why is that?”

“Come on, don’t tell me you don’t remember. Today’s an anniversary.”

Ginoza’s expression quickly turns from a puzzled frown to only confusion. No, he would remember that, he’s sure. What is Kougami talking about? It’s clear on his face that he’s trying to make sense of things. “It’s...September. We were married in June.”

“Not that.” Kougami is still smiling, so thankfully not upset that Ginoza hasn’t remembered whatever anniversary this is. “When we first got together.”

“Oh.” Kougami actually seems to be enjoying watching realization dawn on Ginoza -- who doesn’t feel as bad as he would have if he’d really managed to get that confused, but still feels a little bad.

“So let’s go, I’m taking you out.”

Ginoza does walk out into the hall with Kougami, locking the door behind him, but is frowning thoughtfully again as he does so.

“I haven’t done anything for you, though,” he finally says. And he does feel bad to have not thought of it; he can’t imagine being happier than he is leaving a job he loves with the two beings he loves most.

And Kougami truly means a lot to him -- Kougami, who, despite going by his own name here to avoid confusion on the students’ part, took Ginoza’s last name to let him keep that connection to his mother; who has been there for him since the two of them were in school, has loved and cared for him more than Ginoza really imagined someone could. It seems wrong that he hasn’t even remembered to do something small here after all that.

They’ve nearly reached the parking lot now, and Kougami is holding the door that leads outside for him, smiling again -- or still?

“Gino.” He says it fondly, but also as if Ginoza is being silly, somehow. “Don’t worry. You’re here, with me, and that’s enough. What you can do for me is spend time celebrating this with me.”

Ginoza doesn’t look entirely convinced, but sighs. And, finally, smiles. “Fine. I’d be happy to.”

Now at the car, he opens the rear door to let Dime in, then climbs into the passenger’s seat, next to Kougami, who is still looking very happy just to be here with Ginoza.

“That’s all I ask,” he says before leaning over to kiss Ginoza. It deepens easily, and they think they could stay that way for a while -- until Dime intervenes, and they laugh before heading home to change for their evening out together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you thought I wasn't going to take the opportunity to make them happy with this prompt, you had another thing coming.


	6. Day 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prompt for day 6 is "development or stability"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really know what to do for this, I am sorry. I tried, but I'm back to misery. And also sounding less like fic and more like "this is how the ship works in my mind."

In theory, development sounds like it should be a positive thing -- that when things develop, they improve and grow. However, Ginoza has found that relationships in his life have quite the capability for developing negatively. Sybil, after all, was in the name of development, of progress, and he had put so much stock in it at one time; now, he has reason to doubt it. And given that window of opportunity, he’s also been able to see that just maybe Sybil has been the reason for some of the bigger problems he had.

He has a lot to think about -- a lot he _should_ think about, under this pressure, given this state of affairs. But Kougami is on his mind, more than anything. Kougami has been a constant to Ginoza in the sense that he always managed to defy Ginoza’s expectations -- whether good or bad.

At the moment, Ginoza can’t think of much that doesn’t feel bleak; an unfortunate situation in which Kougami is not the exception Ginoza hoped he would be. He knows better than to expect it, but he supposes he slipped and let himself hope for something entirely improbable.

He feels a little foolish, but despite feeling bitter, he chooses to forgive himself for it. After all, given the pattern over the years, is it not natural to expect Kougami to surprise him? It sounds contradictory, but it doesn’t feel that way -- not when his very first encounter with Kougami was a surprise. In fact, help had been such a surprise to Ginoza that he nearly suspected Kougami of ulterior motives, though he had no clue what those could be.

And it continued from there. Kougami was the one to place himself in Ginoza’s life willfully and unexpectedly. Kougami was the one to say “I love you” when Ginoza thought there was no one left to tell him so, let alone so genuinely. Kougami was the one to continually go out of his way, as far as Ginoza was concerned.

But even that can be a drawback. Going to that kind of effort is what made Kougami the one to desert Ginoza when he thought he’d found someone who would stay.

Ginoza knows -- maybe has always known that those consequences were never deliberate on anyone’s part. No one ever aimed to become a latent criminal. But he has trouble not biting back his anger, not feeling hurt, not asking why it has to be everyone dear to him.

He can’t associate too closely with them. That hurts. But if he wants to prove he won’t end up like his father, there isn’t another choice. But god, if that isn’t something he wishes would change… He still misses Kougami, everything they had and did together, everything they once hoped they _would_ be able to have and do together.

But they’re not able now, and though he knows it’s the multitude of other things he’s been given to handle, Ginoza wonders if wishing he could be with -- lay next to, kiss, _marry_ \-- a latent criminal is what’s raising his crime coefficient. Sybil forbids it, after all, and that’s another thing he wishes would change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to end things on a happy note tomorrow, ok...


	7. Day 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day 7 prompt is joy/sorrow or free day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went with joy, as promised. It's not very long, and it's pretty self indulgent but. Here's hoping you enjoy...

Summer is drawing to a close before their final year in high school. From this point on, Kougami and Ginoza are prepared to focus on doing what it takes to become inspectors. Ginoza is still stunned and feels beyond lucky to have Kougami by his side, planning to stay by his side; he still feels that way after the years they’ve spent together in school, and now going forward. But he’s well aware, too -- as they both are -- that there may be a lot of hard work from here on out.

So they’ve chosen to make the most of the final stretch of summer. Maybe it’s not what other kids their age would consider making the most of their time, but they don’t mind. They anticipate things being fast paced before long, so this feels like their chance to be away from everything, just to relax with each other.

It’s relaxing, even, to just endure the car ride out of the city in silence, hand in hand. They’re not out to do anything in particular -- just spend time together, because taken away from the pressures of school and all, this sounds like the most relaxing thing they can imagine.

They’re staying in a hotel on the beach and once they’ve checked in and settled in, the sun is starting to set. So it’s a little cliché, but Kougami doesn’t much care about that and grins once the idea comes to mind, wasting no time in grabbing Ginoza’s hand. He leads him out of the room, out of the building, and out onto the beach, never letting go of his hand.

Ginoza looks shy, or maybe just bashful, but Kougami notices, after a quick peck to his cheek, that he’s smiling too. And maybe it’s the light of the sunset, but his face looks a little pink as well. Kougami takes in the sight for a few moments -- quite enamored, frankly -- before leaning in again, but for a peck on the lips this time.

And then they walk, shoes off eventually and held in one hand, the other still occupied holding one another. They talk -- about plenty of things, from their time together so far, to their hopes for the future (neither quite confessing how much they hope the other is a part of that); they verge on flirting, if not doing so outright. Maybe blushing is supposed to be embarrassing, but neither can really say they aren’t enjoying the butterflies.

Somewhere, halfway back to the hotel, Ginoza braves being the one to lean in for a kiss. And he lingers. And Kougami does nothing but kiss back. It goes on. Ginoza is starting to lose track of time when Kougami pulls away, smiling at him again, suggesting they finish heading back.

Ginoza nods, though he feels like he could have kept kissing Kougami indefinitely. He would never complain, though; maybe Kougami is tired from travel, and he can’t blame him for needing rest. Besides, this is barely the start of their trip. So he’s content to hold hands all the way back up to their room, asking for nothing more.

Once prepared for and sitting in bed, however, Kougami pleasantly surprises him by picking up where they left off. The kiss is all love and appreciation and strong feelings; closed eyes, open mouths, touching tongues -- eventually, roaming hands. It’s excitement and butterflies at the same time that it’s comfort and contentment and joy, and it feels endless. Ginoza loses all sense of time, only knows it must have been hours.

Later, he’ll reflect that it was a good sign of how much of the rest of their trip would be spent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, kisses all around.


End file.
